Fu Zhiyu didn’t know what to answer him. He felt embarrassed even listening to these words and turned his head away.

He really didn’t understand why those two only regretted it after doing something wrong. Now they said they were sorry and begged him to do this and that. What was the point of it when he didn’t need it anymore?

To compensate for this kind of thing sounded really ironic to him.

“Xie Ke is… very strange,” Shen Yang seemed to be trying to suppress his emotions. Knowing that now was not the time to cry, he began to sort out what he wanted to say to Fu Zhiyu, “Stranger than in my previous life. I think he sometimes seems to be some kind of monster.”

It’s not a monster, it’s an actor, Fu Zhiyu added silently in his heart.

However, why did Xie Ke think he would not disappear? It was no secret that abnormal bugs would be deleted by the system after the task was completed. Every system should know that. If it weren’t for him being so special that even the Lord God couldn’t delete him, even if the world was rebooted, he might not be able to come back.

What was Xie Ke planning at that time?

Seeing him frown, Shen Yang added cautiously: “Zhiyu, I don’t know why you chose to live like this in this life. Perhaps, having the memories of your previous life is a very tiring thing for you.

But I am not incapable now, even in front of Xie Ke. Many things may happen soon. I am afraid that you will be unduly affected. If… if you want, I will send you away to avoid it for a while, okay? After this time is over, you can come back if you want, or you can never come back if you don’t want to. Xie Ke is not so powerful, I can make him unable to find you.”

“Aren’t you cooperating with Xie Ke?” Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, “Why, are you going to betray again?”

Shen Yang’s words, for him, had no integrity at all.

Shen Yang shook his head with a wry smile: “We always take what we need in our lives… Zhiyu, you also know that the matters of power are not as simple as black or white, and it is even more difficult to be determined by personal likes and dislikes. Many things are intertwined and it is hard to make them clear.

But after I was reborn, I also thought carefully why Heaven brought me back. The only regret in my previous life lies in you, Zhiyu. If you can have a happy life, I will really have no regrets in these two lifetimes.”

After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu only replied calmly: “You are not compensating me, you are just compensating yourself.”

“Why separate the two?” Shen Yang asked rhetorically, “To compensate you is to compensate myself. I have always felt that it was the same thing.”

People who were used to high positions could pull their emotions together quickly. It was okay to cry for a moment because of too much emotional impact. Now Shen Yang looked neat again. He also turned and took care of the medicine pot that was already starting to boil.

“The medicine is ready,” he said and poured another bowl for Fu Zhiyu. This time, he didn’t hand it to him directly. He put it on the tray and let it cool for a while, then took a wooden spoon and scooped a small spoonful and drank it himself.

“The temperature is just right,” he said softly, “Take the medicine, look, I’ve drunk it first, there will be no problem this time.”

But Fu Zhiyu didn’t dare to take the medicine that had passed through Shen Yang’s hands. He had a shadow over this matter, and he wasn’t sick in the first place, so he didn’t need to take medicine.

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He felt more and more that he really couldn’t afford to be Shen Yang’s master. He and Xie Ke were obviously the same kind of people. Those in power were always so self-righteous.

“What’s the difference between what you are like now and what you were in your previous life?” Fu Zhiyu sighed, “Everything is done under the banner of being for my own good. But in fact, you only treat me as a piece of paper with no thoughts. Shen Yang, you have never changed.”

Shen Yang’s hand shook. He was indeed confused for a moment because of Fu Zhiyu’s words, and then he said, “But, Zhiyu, what do you really want?”

Only now did Fu Zhiyu mobilise a little of his feelings. Before he got into the carriage, he hadn’t thought of it, and now he was answering Shen Yang very seriously.

“What do I want? I just want a normal relationship from the beginning to the end. Shen Yang, in my previous life, you and I shared joys and sorrows. I never regarded you and Mingdao simply as subordinates or subjects. I always thought that we were friends who trusted each other. I didn’t want you to prove your sincerity by dying for me for nothing, like Mingdao did. At that time, I knew that I likely wouldn’t last long. Before drinking that bowl of medicine, I originally planned to let you escape quickly. I prepared a carriage and guards for you. You could go anywhere at that time, even if you chose to be Xie Ke’s courtier after my death. I knew you had the ambition of governing the country, I didn’t plan to tie you up for the rest of your life after my death. Or, if you really couldn’t wait, you could just tell me face to face that you didn’t want to follow me anymore. You knew my character, you knew I would let you go. Birds choose good trees to live in, I understand.

I don’t know why you chose the worst way, and now you tell me that it was for my good. You and Xie Ke are really the same kind of people. I don’t understand what you are thinking. In my previous life, I regarded you as a friend and Xie Ke as a lover. Back then, it wasn’t just the two of you who had a difficult road to go. It was not that everything went smoothly for me. I also had difficulties and I also had hardships, but I didn’t do you two any wrong.

You are asking me what I want now. I really have nothing to tell you. It’s useless to say it. Shen Yang, I can’t accept your so-called compensation anymore. God knows what methods you will use that I can’t understand.”

Shen Yang’s plan to send him away was Fu Zhiyu’s own original plan, but now, Fu Zhiyu would never accept his help again.

Between the two of them, there was no trust, and they could no longer be friends.

In his previous life, most of his memories of Shen Yang were happy, but the ending wasn’t good. Now he was willing to say such a long passage to Shen Yang because he felt that there was still a possibility of dialogue between the two of them.

“Don’t bother me again, it will be the best compensation.”

After Fu Zhiyu said these words, he didn’t speak anymore, and there was a dead silence in the carriage.

The hunting ground was not very far from the capital. Fu Zhiyu set off in the morning and arrived at the residence in the afternoon. Shen Yang watched him get out of the carriage and enter the residence gate. It took a while before he left.

After Fu Zhiyu entered the residence, he briefly cleaned up, sent a message to his two uncles, and then asked Steward Zhou to prepare the carriage and went to the palace.

The emperor left, and the palace seemed empty. Liuli Palace had been leisurely recently. Consort Yun leaned on the couch, reading a book. She was surprised to see him come in.

“Why did you come back suddenly?” She asked, “The hunt in the autumn takes a few days. Did something happen?”

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Fu Zhiyu asked all the servants to go out, staying alone with his mother and asking Caiyan and Caimei to guard the door to prevent others from eavesdropping.

Seeing his actions, Consort Yun felt that something was really going to happen. She straightened up at once and lowered her voice a little: “Something did happen?”

Fu Zhiyu sat down in front of her and said solemnly: “Mother Consort, I think we need to prepare to run. The time we have been waiting for has come.”

When Consort Yun heard this, her hands couldn’t help trembling. She was probably not mentally prepared. Her eyes were at a loss for an instant, and then she carefully confirmed with Fu Zhiyu: “Really?”

“Really,” Fu Zhiyu held her hand, “Apart from the accident of Mingdao being injured, this timing is better than I thought.”

Yuan Mingdao had relayed everything he heard to Fu Zhiyu. Even if he didn’t hear some things fully, Fu Zhiyu could already guess what he needed to know from these things.

They chose to conspire there not because of their carelessness, but because the time was urgent.

He first talked about the whole thing to Consort Yun to let her understand what happened, and gave her some time to digest it. After she calmed down a little bit, he spoke again. 

“I think they want to do it in the hunting ground,” Fu Zhiyu said. “If I had to choose, I would choose it there.”

The capital was heavily guarded, and there were soldiers of the Xie family everywhere. It was really unwise to rebel in the capital as it was easy for Emperor Qingyuan to strike back. But the hunting ground was different. Although Xie Lin and Xie Ke also brought soldiers to guard, the mountains and forests were better than Emperor Qingyuan’s lair. And it was easy to hide in the mountains, or to hide soldiers. If you took advantage of attacking Emperor Qingyuan suddenly when he was out hunting, it was not impossible to succeed.

“Father likes autumn hunting. Every time he goes there, he stays for several days in a row. The prey he got a few days ago was good. He will definitely go hunting again,” Fu Zhiyu said. “Mother Consort, the reason why I was so anxious to come back was to tell you quickly. The time we prepared for is now.”

“Now?” It was only when it came down to it that Consort Yun felt unreal, “I…”

But Fu Zhiyu didn’t feel it was too sudden. He thought very clearly that Emperor Qingyuan wouldn’t be able to come back. Even if the Xue and Lin families didn’t succeed, the Xie family, who was also watching, wouldn’t let this opportunity go.

Shen Yang was now working with the Xie family, and he clearly knew all this, otherwise he wouldn’t say such things.

Fu Zhiyu continued: “I have already sent a letter to my two uncles, and when I sent Mingdao to the merchant house, I also left them a message. Mother Consort also knows that the private soldiers given by my uncle arrived a long time ago, and I have been keeping them in a house outside the capital, just for this day.

Tonight, I just wanted to send Mother Consort away. After leaving the capital, my uncle’s private soldiers will take you to the merchant house. They already know what is going on after seeing my token and will take care of you.

There is also the Yuan family. It is already low-key, and recently Grandfather rarely goes out, even exempt from going to court. Mother will go with them, quietly, no one will notice.”

“What about you?” Consort Yun keenly felt something was wrong, “Xiaobao, don’t we go together?”

“Liuli Palace is not like the Yuan Family. After all, this is the imperial palace. After Mother is gone, we need Caiyan and Caimei to deal with the things here, and we also need Dr. Chen to cover up. He will say that the Imperial Noble Consort has fallen ill and can’t see anyone. This way, we’ll win some time,” Fu Zhiyu explained, “I have to stay and take them away. Besides, if something really goes wrong after that, if I’m still here, at least there is room for manoeuvre. Mother has to believe me. I promised to live a peaceful life with you and Mingdao in the future, and I won’t break my promise.”